Communication system, server, storage medium, and communication control method

ABSTRACT

[Solution] The communication system includes: a recognition unit configured to recognize whether a user is performing a specific gesture; and a control unit configured to identify a client serving as a communication destination, when the specific gesture is recognized, identify an impression represented by the recognized gesture information, and perform control such that the impression represented by the gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to the client.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a communication system, a server, astorage medium, and a communication control method.

BACKGROUND ART

In daily life, there frequently occurs a situation in which thought isdesired to be conveyed to other person.

For example, the following Patent Literature 1 discloses an event trendanalysis system in which, in a case where words of a certain objectperson makes an impression, when an intention conveyance switch ispressed with a directional microphone being directed toward the objectperson, object person information regarding a user impression of theobject person is created.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 2006-003451A

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Nevertheless, for example, even if a person notices a young personoffering his/her seat to an elderly person in a crowded car, feelsadmiration for the young person, and desires to make a compliment to theyoung person, it is difficult to address a stranger. In addition, in acase where a person feels uncomfortable directly addressing anotherperson who is doing a good deed, if the person thinks about sending amessage by e-mail or a social network service (SNS), in some cases, theperson does not know an e-mail address of the other person, or feelsbothersome to input a message.

In this manner, even if there frequently occurs in daily life asituation in which thought of oneself is desired to be conveyed even toa stranger aside from friends and acquaintances, there has been nooptimum method that can easily convey the thought.

In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure proposes acommunication system, a server, a storage medium, and a communicationcontrol method that can notify an impression to a specific other personby means of gestures.

Solution to Problem

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a communicationsystem including: a recognition unit configured to recognize whether auser is performing a specific gesture; and a control unit configured toidentify a client serving as a communication destination, when thespecific gesture is recognized, identify an impression represented bythe recognized gesture information, and perform control such that theimpression represented by the gesture information is notified to a usercorresponding to the client.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a serverincluding: a communication unit configured to receive, from a pluralityof clients, position information indicating respective positions; and acontrol unit configured to when gesture information indicating that auser corresponding to a specific client is performing a specificgesture, and direction information of a gesture are received via thecommunication unit, identifies a client pointed out by the user, inaccordance with the position information corresponding to a client thathas transmitted the gesture information, and the direction informationthat have been acquired via the communication unit, and performs controlsuch that an impression represented by the gesture information isnotified to a user corresponding to the client.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a storage mediumstoring a program for causing a computer to function as: a recognitionunit configured to recognize whether a user is performing a specificgesture; and a control unit configured to identify a client serving as acommunication destination, when the specific gesture is recognized,identify an impression represented by the recognized gestureinformation, and perform control such that the impression represented bythe gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to theclient.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a communicationcontrol method including: by a processor, receiving, from a plurality ofclients, position information indicating respective positions via acommunication unit; when gesture information indicating that a usercorresponding to a specific client is performing a specific gesture, anddirection information of a gesture are received via the communicationunit; identifying a client pointed out by the user, in accordance withthe position information corresponding to a client that has transmittedthe gesture information, and the direction information that have beenacquired via the communication unit; and performing control such that animpression represented by the gesture information is notified to a usercorresponding to the client.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As described above, according to the present disclosure, an impressioncan be notified to a specific other person by means of gestures.

Note that the effects described above are not necessarily limitative.With or in the place of the above effects, there may be achieved any oneof the effects described in this specification or other effects that maybe grasped from this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram that describes an overview of an informationprocessing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an information processing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a userterminal according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of anwearable terminal according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aserver according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram that describes a situation of a first exampleaccording to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating operation processing of a userterminal and an wearable terminal according to the first example.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation processing of a serveraccording to the first example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram that describes an identification method of an objectperson according to the first example.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating operation processing of auser terminal and an wearable terminal according to a second example.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating operation processing of a serveraccording to the second example.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating operation processing of a serveraccording to a third example.

FIG. 13 is a diagram that describes a situation according to anapplication example of the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an wearableterminal according to the application example of the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating operation processing of thewearable terminal according to the application example of the presentembodiment.

MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, (a) preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure willbe described in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Notethat, in this specification and the appended drawings, structuralelements that have substantially the same function and structure aredenoted with the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation ofthese structural elements is omitted.

In addition, the description will be given in the following order.

-   -   1. Overview of Information Processing System According to        Embodiment of Present Disclosure    -   2. Configuration        -   2-1. Configuration of User Terminal        -   2-2. Configuration of Wearable Terminal        -   2-3. Configuration of Server    -   3. Operation Processing        -   3-1. First Example        -   3-2. Second Example        -   3-3. Third Example    -   4. Application Example    -   5. Conclusion

1. OVERVIEW OF INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM ACCORDING TO EMBODIMENT OFPRESENT DISCLOSURE

An information processing system according to the present embodimentenables an impression to be notified to a specific other person by meansof gestures. As mentioned above, in daily life, in a case where a personnotices another person who is doing a good deed or a bad deed, theperson desires to make a compliment or give warning to the other person,but it is difficult to suddenly address a stranger. In view of theforegoing, in the present embodiment, when it is detected that aspecific gesture has been performed, other person to which a user hasdirected the gesture is recognized, a good evaluation or a badevaluation is notified, and furthermore, a message associated with thegesture is notified. The user can thereby easily convey a feeling of theuser to the other person.

FIG. 1 is a diagram that describes an overview of an informationprocessing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.As illustrated in FIG. 1, for example, in a case where a user A noticesa young person offering his seat to an elderly person in a crowded car,feels admiration for the young person, and desires to make a complimentto or make a good evaluation on the young person (a user B), asillustrated in FIG. 1, the user A performs a gesture of showing a firstwith thumb up toward the user B.

When the gesture of the user A is detected by a worn wearable terminal 2a, and recognized as a specific gesture, the information processingsystem according to the present embodiment identifies, on the basis of aposition of the user A, and a direction to which the gesture isdirected, the user B existing in the direction to which the gesture isdirected, as other person.

Then, an impression corresponding to the gesture shown by the user A isnotified to the identified user. More specifically, as illustrated inFIG. 1, an icon indicating an evaluation of “Good” is displayed on adisplay unit of the wearable terminal 2 a worn by the user B, and anevaluation point is accumulated. The user A can thereby easily convey afeeling only by performing a gesture to a person to which thought isdesired to be conveyed. In addition, when the user B has performed agood deed, the user B can recognize that a favorable feeling has beensent from a peripheral person, and have a warm feeling. On the otherhand, even to a bad-mannered person, a warning feeling and a negativeevaluation can be conveyed without constraint only by performing agesture. A person who has received a bad evaluation is expected torealize that the person is seen by a periphery, and make an effort toenhance a manner.

Here, an example of specific examples of impressions corresponding togestures according to the present embodiment is listed below.

TABLE 1 Gesture Impression Shooting with a finger pistol Anger, NoWarning operation performed by a Forbiddance, No referee in a sportmatch Sign of cutting a throat with Firing, Dismissal, Anger thumb upShowing a fist with thumb down No Good Giving a look Signal, Desire tobe noticed Wink Affection, Response Throwing a kiss Affection, Dearness,Love Sign of issuing a red card Forbiddance, No Showing a direction bylargely Over there, Please go there! swinging a right hand Handbeckoning Come here Make a circle with fingers Okay (OK sign) Pointing afinger Indicate a target object or a direction Showing a fist with thumbup Good, Excellent, Make a compliment

In addition, in a case where other person exists in proximity, a gestureinvolving a direct body contact can occur in addition to a normalgesture. Specific examples are listed below.

TABLE 2 Gesture Impression Handshake Nice to meet you Hug Dearness,Gladness Massaging shoulders Thank, Back-pat Slipping an arm around awaist Dearness Hug and tapping a back Good job, Well done High touchDelight, Great!

Next, an overall configuration of the aforementioned informationprocessing system according to the present embodiment will be described.FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an information processing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 2, the information processing system according to the presentembodiment includes user terminals 1 (1 a, 1 b), wearable terminals 2 (2a, 2 b), and a server 3. The server 3 connects with the user terminals 1via a network 4, and performs transmission and reception of data.

The wearable terminals 2 include various sensors such as an accelerationsensor, a direction sensor, and a beat sensor, and perform gesturerecognition on the basis of sensor data. Recognized gesture informationis transmitted to the user terminals 1.

The user terminals 1 connect with the wearable terminals 2 via NearField Communication such as Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) or Wi-Fi(Registered Trademark), and receive gesture information, sensor data,and the like. In addition, the user terminals 1 transmit gestureinformation and position information of the own devices to the server 3via the network 4.

The server 3 searches for and identifies the position information andthe gesture information that have been transmitted from the userterminal 1 a, and a person existing in a direction to which a gesture isdirected from a position of a user, from another user terminal 1. Then,the server 3 notifies an impression corresponding to the gesture, to theidentified person.

2. CONFIGURATION

<2-1. Configuration of User Terminal>

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of theuser terminal 1 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the user terminal 1 includes a control unit 100, a communicationunit 110, a position information acquisition unit 120, a camera 130, amicrophone 140, a manipulation input unit 150, a storage unit 160, adisplay unit 170, and a speaker 180.

The control unit 100 functions as an arithmetic processing device and acontrol device, and controls the entire operation performed inside theuser terminal 1, in accordance with various programs. The control unit100 is implemented by an electronic circuit such as a central processingunit (CPU) and a microprocessor, for example.

The communication unit 110 performs transmission and reception of datawith an external device in a wired/wireless manner. More specifically,for example, the communication unit 110 can perform communication with acloud (the server 3) by communication with a public line network, and inaddition, can perform communication with an wearable terminal usingWi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, or the like.

The position information acquisition unit 120 has a function ofacquiring position information of the user terminal 1. For example, theposition information acquisition unit 120 may be a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) antenna, and a GPS processing unit that processes a GPSsignal received by the GPS antenna. Alternatively, the positioninformation acquisition unit 120 may be a Wi-Fi antenna that receivesWi-Fi (Registered Trademark) radio waves from a plurality of basestations, and a position calculation unit that estimates a distance fromeach base station from reception intensity of the received Wi-Fi radiowaves, and calculates a current position on the basis of a principle oftriangulation, using a distance from each base station and a position ofeach base station.

The camera 130 captures an image of a periphery in accordance with auser manipulation, and outputs the captured image information to thecontrol unit 100.

The microphone 140 collects a sound in a periphery in accordance with auser manipulation, and outputs the collected sound information to thecontrol unit 100.

The manipulation input unit 150 is implemented by a touch panel, aswitch, a button, or the like, detects a manipulation input performed bya user, and outputs a detected input signal to the control unit 100.

The storage unit 160 is implemented by a read only memory (ROM) thatstores a program, a calculation parameter, and the like that are used inprocessing of the control unit 100, and a random access memory (RAM)that temporarily stores a parameter or the like that appropriatelyvaries.

The display unit 170 is an example of an output unit, and is implementedby a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and anorganic EL (OLED: Organic Light Emitting Diode) display device.

The speaker 180 is an example of an output unit, and reproduces a soundsignal.

<2-2. Configuration of Wearable Terminal>

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of thewearable terminal 2 according to the present embodiment. As illustratedin FIG. 4, the wearable terminal 2 includes a control unit 200, acommunication unit 210, a sensor 220, a manipulation input unit 230, astorage unit 240, and a display unit 250.

The control unit 200 functions as an arithmetic processing device and acontrol device, and controls the entire operation performed inside thewearable terminal 2, in accordance with various programs. The controlunit 100 is implemented by an electronic circuit such as a CPU and amicroprocessor, for example.

In addition, the control unit 200 also functions as a gesturerecognition unit 201. On the basis of sensor data detected by the sensor220, the gesture recognition unit 201 analyzes an operation of the user,and recognizes a gesture.

The communication unit 210 performs transmission and reception of datawith an external device in a wired/wireless manner. More specifically,for example, the communication unit 210 can perform communication withthe user terminal 1 using Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication,or the like.

The sensor 220 corresponds to various sensors for recognizing a gestureof the user, and includes, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyrosensor, a compass (direction sensor), a myoelectric sensor, a vibrationsensor, a beat sensor, a microphone, or the like.

The manipulation input unit 230 is implemented by a switch, a button, orthe like, detects a manipulation input performed by the user, andoutputs a detected input signal to the control unit 200.

The storage unit 240 is implemented by a ROM that stores a program, acalculation parameter, and the like that are used in processing of thecontrol unit 200, and a RAM that temporarily stores a parameter or thelike that appropriately varies.

The display unit 250 is an example of an output unit, and is implementedby a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and anorganic EL (OLED: Organic Light Emitting Diode) display device. Notethat the wearable terminal 2 may be further provided with alight-emitting unit (indicator), a vibration unit (e.g., vibrationmotor), or the like, as another output unit.

<2-3. Configuration of Server>

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of theserver 3 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 5,the server 3 includes a control unit 300, a communication unit 310, agesture information storage unit 320, and an evaluation database (DB)330.

The control unit 300 functions as an arithmetic processing device and acontrol device, and controls the entire operation performed inside theserver 3, in accordance with various programs. The control unit 300 isimplemented by an electronic circuit such as a CPU and a microprocessor,for example. In addition, the control unit 300 functions as a terminalposition identification unit 301, an object person identification unit302, a meaning identification unit 303, a notification control unit 304,and an evaluation processing unit 305.

The terminal position identification unit 301 identifies a position ofthe user terminal 1 that has transmitted gesture information. Forexample, the terminal position identification unit 301 identifies aterminal position on the basis of position information that has beentransmitted from the user terminal 1 together with the gestureinformation.

On the basis of the gesture information and the terminal position, theobject person identification unit 302 identifies other person regardedas a target of the gesture. For example, the object personidentification unit 302 can identify a position of a person to which theuser has directed the gesture, on the basis of direction sensor dataadded to the gesture information, and current position informationpieces of a large number of user terminals 1.

The meaning identification unit 303 refers to the gesture informationstorage unit 320, to identify an impression corresponding to the gesturetransmitted from the user terminal 1.

The notification control unit 304 performs control so that an impressionof the gesture that has been identified by the meaning identificationunit 303 is transmitted from the communication unit 310 to a userterminal of the object person identified by the object personidentification unit 302.

The evaluation processing unit 305 grants an evaluation corresponding tothe impression of the gesture that has been identified by the meaningidentification unit 303, to the object person identified by the objectperson identification unit 302, in association therewith, and stores theevaluation in the evaluation DB 330.

The communication unit 310 performs transmission and reception of datawith an external device in a wired/wireless manner. For example, thecommunication unit 310 connects with the user terminal 1 via the network4, and receives gesture information and position information.

In the gesture information storage unit 320, gestures and correspondingimpressions as listed in Tables 1 and 2 described above are stored.

The evaluation DB 330 accumulates evaluation data of each user that hasbeen processed by the evaluation processing unit 305.

The configurations of the respective devices included in the informationprocessing system according to the present embodiment have beenspecifically described above. Subsequently, operation processingaccording to the present embodiment will be specifically described.

3. OPERATION PROCESSING 3-1. First Example

First of all, as a first example, a gesture performed in a case where anangry or warning feeling is desired to be conveyed to a person who isdoing littering, and notification processing for other person will bedescribed. FIG. 6 is a diagram that describes a situation of the firstexample according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 6,an assumption will be made about a case in which, when a user D finds auser C who is doing littering, a feeling of anger to breach of manners,and a feeling of a desire to give warning are generated, and the user Dperforms a gesture of a finger pistol with a feeling of “No!”, towardthe user C.

In this example, the users C and D respectively carries user terminals 1c and 1 d such as a smartphone, and a current position of each of theusers can be recognized by a system side. In addition, the user D wearsan wearable terminal 2 such as a SmartBand on his arm, and the gestureof the user D can be thereby recognized.

Operation processing according to this example will be described belowwith reference to FIGS. 7 to 8.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating operation processing of theuser terminal 1 and the wearable terminal 2 according to the firstexample. As illustrated in FIG. 7, first of all, the wearable terminal 2acquires sensor data from the sensor 220 (step S103).

Next, the gesture recognition unit 201 of the wearable terminal 2performs gesture recognition on the basis of the sensor data (stepS106). The gesture recognition unit 201 detects a specific gesture by anidentification machine constructed in advance by machine learning, forexample. Here, an operation of shooting with holding a finger pistol isdetected as an example. It is assumed that, when the user D finds theuser C who is doing littering, a feeling of anger to breach of manners,and a feeling of a desire to give warning are generated, and the user Dperforms a gesture of a finger pistol with a feeling of “No!”, towardthe user C. In this case, the gesture of the finger pistol is recognizedby the sensor 220 of the wearable terminal 2 that the user D wears onhis arm. More specifically, pistol-shaped fingers can be detected by,for example, myoelectric data detected by a myoelectric sensor. Inaddition, as an operation of holding a gun, a movement of swinging alower arm down from above on an arc can be detected by an accelerationsensor or a gyro sensor.

After that, in a case where the gesture is recognized as the gesture ofthe finger pistol (step S109/Yes), the control unit 200 of the wearableterminal 2 acquires an orientation of an arm (direction to which thegesture is directed) on the basis of the sensor data (step S112). Theacquisition of the orientation of the arm may be performed in a state inwhich the user holds a finger pistol, or in a case where it isrecognized that a shooting gesture has been performed by a fingermovement (detected by a myoelectric sensor) or speaking a shooting soundthat sounds like “bang!” (collected by a microphone). The orientation ofthe arm can be acquired by a compass or a gyro sensor, for example.

After that, the wearable terminal 2 transmits a gesture recognitionresult and information indicating the orientation of the arm at thetime, to the user terminal 1 (step S115).

On the other hand, the user terminal 1 continuously transmits positioninformation to the server 3 (step S118).

After that, when the user terminal 1 receives the gesture informationand the like from the wearable terminal 2, the user terminal 1 transmitsthe received gesture recognition result and information indicating theorientation of the arm, to the server 3 (step S121).

Subsequently, operation processing of the server 3 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, first of all, the server 3 continuouslyreceives position information from each of the user terminals 1 (stepS153), and identifies a current position of each user (each terminal) bythe terminal position identification unit 301 (step S156).

Next, in a case where gesture information (in this example, gestureinformation of the finger pistol) has been received (step S159/Yes), theobject person identification unit 302 of the server 3 checks a positionof the user terminal 1 that has transmitted the gesture information(step S161).

After that, on the basis of the position of the user terminal 1 that hastransmitted the gesture information, the direction of the arm, andcurrent position information pieces of other recognized users, theobject person identification unit 302 identifies an object person towhich the user D has performed the gesture of shooting with a fingerpistol (step S164). Here, an identification method of an object personwill be described with reference to FIG. 9. As illustrated in FIG. 9, aposition of each user is identified on a map on the basis of positioninformation of a terminal. Here, on the basis of the direction of thearm that is set when the user D has shot with a finger pistol, theobject person identification unit 302 searches for a person positionedin a direction of an arrow indicated by the direction of the arm thatbegins at the position of the user D, and identifies the user C as anobject person. In addition, in a case where a plurality of personsexists in the direction of the arrow, a person existing at a positionnearest to the user D may be identified. In addition, the direction ofthe arm that is set when the user D has shot with a finger pistol is notlimited to a two-dimensional direction, and can include athree-dimensional direction. In addition, the position information mayinclude height information.

Next, in a case where an object person has been identified (stepS167/Yes), the server 3 transmits, to the object person, a messageindicating a meaning corresponding to the gesture (step S170). Forexample, as a message indicating a meaning corresponding to the gestureof the finger pistol, a message indicating that “No! I will punish you.”is transmitted to the user terminal 1 c of the user C.

In addition, because the gesture of the finger pistol corresponds to anegative evaluation, the server 3 performs processing of deducting anevaluation point of the object person, by the evaluation processing unit305 (step S173).

3-2. Second Example

Next, as a second example, a gesture performed in a case where a feelingrepresenting affection is desired to be conveyed together with a messageto other person in favor, and notification processing for the otherperson will be described. For example, an assumption will be made abouta situation in which, when a person is drinking alone on a counter of abar, in a case where another person of a favorite type is drinking alonein the middle distance, a message conveying affection is desired to becasually sent. Operation processing performed in such a situation willbe described below with reference to FIGS. 10 to 11. Here, it is assumedthat both of a user who performs a gesture, and other user have the userterminals 1. In addition, the user who performs a gesture wears thewearable terminal 2.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating operation processing of theuser terminal 1 and the wearable terminal 2 according to the secondexample. As illustrated in FIG. 10, first of all, the wearable terminal2 modifies a preset message associated with a gesture (step S206). Themodification is not always essential. In a case where the user desiresto change on the spot a message desired to be conveyed to the otherperson, the user can input a sound of a message by pressing apredetermined button of the wearable terminal 2, or modify a wording ofthe preset message by manipulating from the user terminal 1. The messageinput as a sound can be converted into a text message through speechrecognition processing performed by the control unit 200.

After that, the wearable terminal 2 acquires sensor data from the sensor220 (step S209).

Next, the gesture recognition unit 201 of the wearable terminal 2performs gesture recognition on the basis of the sensor data (stepS212). The gesture recognition unit 201 detects a specific gesture by anidentification machine constructed in advance by machine learning, forexample. Here, an operation indicating dearness such as a giving a look,a wink, and throwing a kiss is detected as an example. Giving a look anda wink can be detected by a SmartEyeglass put on a face, by detecting amovement of the face by a myoelectric sensor. In addition, throwing akiss can be detected by detecting a movement of an arm by anacceleration sensor or a gyro sensor, and furthermore, collecting speechthat sounds like “Chu”, by a microphone.

After that, in a case where the gesture is recognized as a specificgesture (step S215/Yes), the control unit 200 of the wearable terminal 2acquires an orientation of an attitude (body) and an orientation of anarm (both of the orientations are directions to which the gesture isdirected) on the basis of the sensor data (step S218).

After that, the wearable terminal 2 transmits a gesture recognitionresult and information indicating the orientation of the arm at thetime, and the like, to the user terminal 1 (step S221).

On the other hand, the user terminal 1 continuously transmits positioninformation to the server 3 (step S224). The position informationacquisition unit 120 of the user terminal 1 also has a function ofindoor positioning using Wi-Fi, for example.

After that, when the user terminal 1 receives the gesture informationand the like from the wearable terminal 2, the user terminal 1 transmitsthe received gesture recognition result and information indicating theorientation of the arm, to the server 3 (step S227).

Subsequently, operation processing of the server 3 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, first of all, the server 3 continuouslyreceives position information from each of the user terminals 1 (stepS253), and identifies a current position of each user (each terminal) bythe terminal position identification unit 301 (step S256).

Next, in a case where gesture information has been received (stepS259/Yes), the object person identification unit 302 of the server 3checks a position of the user terminal 1 that has transmitted thegesture information (step S261).

After that, on the basis of the position of the user terminal 1 that hastransmitted the gesture information, the direction of the arm, andcurrent position information pieces of other recognized users, theobject person identification unit 302 identifies an object person towhich the user has performed a specific gesture (e.g., wink, handbeckoning, throwing a kiss, or the like) (step S264).

Next, in a case where an object person has been identified (stepS267/Yes), the server 3 transmits, to the object person, a text messageassociated with the gesture, that is, a preset text message, or a textmessage modified by the user (step S270).

3-3. Third Example

The information processing system according to the present embodimentmay be performed between users preregistered in this service. Forexample, when a message is transmitted to an identified other user, atransmission destination needs to be identified on the server 3 side,but as for the users preregistered in this service, registered addressescan be used.

In addition, when an object person is identified on the basis of adirection to which a gesture is directed, for preventing another personfrom being erroneously identified, not a person existing in a remotelocation on the indicated direction is identified, but a person existingin a range limited to a visible range of the person who has performedthe gesture is identified. Thus, positions of a plurality of persons ina confined range need to be accurately recognized.

Thus, by targeting the users preregistered in this service, adestination can be preliminarily recognized, and in addition, apermission of provision of detailed position information can bepreliminarily received.

Operation processing performed on the server 3 side according to thethird example will be described below with reference to FIG. 12. Notethat gesture recognition processing performed on the user side issimilar to that in the first and second examples. Thus, the descriptionwill be omitted here.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, first of all, the control unit 300 of theserver 3 performs registration of a user who uses the service (stepS303). More specifically, for example, together with the registration ofa user ID and a terminal ID, the control unit 300 obtains a provisionpermission of detailed position information, a provision permission ofaddress information, and a provision permission of action historyinformation, for the use of this service. Hereinafter, a user registeredby obtaining these permissions will be referred to as a user who hasjoined a specific SNS.

After that, the server 3 continuously receives position information fromeach of the user terminals 1 (step S306), and identifies a currentposition of each user (each terminal) joining a specific SNS, by theterminal position identification unit 301 (step S309).

Next, in a case where gesture information has been received (stepS312/Yes), the object person identification unit 302 of the server 3checks a position of the user terminal 1 that has transmitted thegesture information (step S315).

After that, on the basis of the position of the user terminal 1 that hastransmitted the gesture information, the direction of the arm, andcurrent position information pieces of other users recognized by thespecific SNS, the object person identification unit 302 identifies anobject person to which the user has performed a specific gesture (stepS318).

Next, in a case where an object person has been identified (stepS321/Yes), the server 3 transmits, to the object person, a messageassociated with the gesture (step S324).

4. APPLICATION EXAMPLE

Subsequently, an information processing system according to anapplication example of the present embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 13 to 15. In the aforementioned embodiment, gestureinformation detected by the wearable terminal 2 is transmitted from theuser terminal 1 to the server 3 on a network, and notificationprocessing control is performed mainly in the server 3. Nevertheless,the present embodiment is not limited to this, and direct communicationcan be performed between wearable terminals. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 13, when users G and H perform a handshake gesture involving acontact, quasi-electrostatic field communication is performed byrespectively-worn wearable terminals 20G and 20H, and a positiveevaluation corresponding to the handshake gesture is transmitted fromone wearable terminal 20 to the other wearable terminal 20. With thisconfiguration, when a handshake is performed, a further stronger thoughtcan be conveyed. Note that whether to perform the transmission of apositive evaluation using the quasi-electrostatic field communicationcan be set by a switch (knob) provided in the wearable terminal 20G asillustrated in FIG. 13. When the transmission of an evaluationcorresponding to a gesture is performed, the knob is turned to a “+”side.

Here, a configuration example of the wearable terminal 20 according tothis application example is illustrated in FIG. 14. As illustrated inFIG. 14, the wearable terminal 20 includes the control unit 200, thecommunication unit 210, the sensor 220, the manipulation input unit 230,the storage unit 240, the display unit 250, and a quasi-electrostaticfield communication unit 260.

The quasi-electrostatic field communication unit 260 is a human bodycommunication system that performs data communication through anelectrical field formed by the interposition of human bodies. In thequasi-electrostatic field communication, for example, a sound signalsuch as music, a coded signal, and the like can be communicated througha contact of human bodies.

Because the other configurations are similar to the respectiveconfigurations of the aforementioned wearable terminal 2, thedescription will be omitted here.

Subsequently, operation processing according to this application examplewill be described with reference to FIG. 15.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, first of all, the wearable terminal 20 checkswhether a switch is turned ON, as for the availability of thetransmission of a feeling corresponding to a gesture (step S403). Morespecifically, for example, the wearable terminal 20 checks whether theknob is put in plus as illustrated in FIG. 13.

After that, in a case where the switch is turned ON (step S403/Yes), thewearable terminal 2 acquires sensor data from the sensor 220 (stepS406).

Next, the gesture recognition unit 201 of the wearable terminal 2performs gesture recognition on the basis of the sensor data (stepS409). The gesture recognition unit 201 detects a specific gesture by anidentification machine constructed in advance by machine learning, forexample. In this example, an operation of performing handshake isdetected. More specifically, for example, the gesture recognition unit201 recognizes a handshake operation by myoelectrically detecting thathands are held, and detecting, from data of an acceleration sensor or agyro sensor, that a vertical movement is repeated at a predeterminedspeed with the hands being held.

After that, in a case where it is recognized that the handshake has beenperformed (step S412/Yes), the control unit 200 of the wearable terminal2 detects quasi-electrostatic field communication of a terminal of otherperson by the quasi-electrostatic field communication unit 260 (stepS415). By detecting the quasi-electrostatic field communication of theterminal of the other person, the control unit 200 can check that theuser has a contact with the human body of the other person, and canrecognize more accurately that quasi-electrostatic field communicationcan be performed with the terminal of the other person, and in addition,that the user is not simply moving the hand, but the user is shakinghands with holding hands with the other person. Furthermore, byidentifying the terminal of the other person, the control unit 200 canalso recognize with who the user is shaking hands.

Then, when the quasi-electrostatic field communication of the terminalof the other person is detected (step S415/Yes), the control unit 200performs control so that information regarding a positive evaluation onthe other person that is associated with the handshake gesture inadvance is transmitted to the terminal of the other person using thequasi-electrostatic field communication (step S418). An impression suchas an evaluation and a message that are associated with a gesture may bestored in the storage unit 240.

Note that, in this application example, an example of the handshakegesture has been described, but the present embodiment is not limited tothis. For example, also in another gesture involving a contact (e.g.,hug, massaging shoulders, slipping an arm around a waist, hug andtapping a back, high touch, etc.), an impression associated with eachgesture can be transmitted to the terminal of the other person using thequasi-electrostatic field communication.

In addition, in this application example, the description has been givenof an example of transmitting an impression associated with a gesture,such as a positive evaluation, to the terminal of the other person usingthe quasi-electrostatic field communication. Nevertheless, the presentembodiment is not limited to this, and the impression may be transmittedto the terminal of the other person via a cloud using a communicationline of an wearable terminal, or may be transmitted using Near FieldCommunication such as Bluetooth and infrared communication.

5. CONCLUSION

As mentioned above, in the information processing system according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure, an impression can be notifiedto a specific other person by means of gestures.

The preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure has/have beendescribed above with reference to the accompanying drawings, whilst thepresent disclosure is not limited to the above examples. A personskilled in the art may find various alterations and modifications withinthe scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that theywill naturally come under the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, a computer program for causing hardware such as a CPU, aROM, and a RAM that is built in the aforementioned user terminal 1, thewearable terminal 2, or the server 3, to execute a function of the userterminal 1, the wearable terminal 2, or the server 3 can also becreated. In addition, a computer-readable storage medium storing thecomputer program is also provided.

In addition, the gesture recognition unit 201 is provided in thewearable terminal 2, but the present embodiment is not limited to this,and gesture recognition processing may be performed in the user terminal1 or the server 3.

Further, the effects described in this specification are merelyillustrative or exemplified effects, and are not limitative. That is,with or in the place of the above effects, the technology according tothe present disclosure may achieve other effects that are clear to thoseskilled in the art from the description of this specification.

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1)

A communication system including:

-   -   a recognition unit configured to recognize whether a user is        performing a specific gesture; and    -   a control unit configured to        -   identify a client serving as a communication destination,            when the specific gesture is recognized,        -   identify an impression represented by recognized gesture            information, and        -   perform control such that the impression represented by the            gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to            the client.            (2)

The communication system according to (1), further including

-   -   a quasi-electrostatic field communication unit,    -   in which, when the specific gesture is recognized, the control        unit identifies whether or not there is a client serving as a        communication destination capable of performing        quasi-electrostatic field communication on a periphery, and        performs control such that the impression represented by the        gesture information is transmitted to a user corresponding to        the identified client via the quasi-electrostatic field        communication unit.        (3)

The communication system according to (1), including

-   -   a communication unit configured to communicate with a server        configured to manage a message transmitted and received between        users,    -   in which the control unit performs control such that the        impression represented by the gesture information is transmitted        to the user corresponding to the client, via the communication        unit and the server.        (4)

The communication system according to any one of (1) to (3), furtherincluding

-   -   a sound input unit,    -   in which the control unit is capable of changing the impression        represented by the gesture information to a message obtained by        converting a sound input by the sound input unit.        (5)

The communication system according to any one of (1) to (4), including:

-   -   a client including        -   the recognition unit configured to recognize whether a user            is performing a specific gesture,        -   a client control unit configured to generate, when the            specific gesture is recognized, position information            indicating a position of the client, and direction            information indicating a direction pointed out by the user,            and        -   a client communication unit configured to transmit, to a            server, gesture information indicating the specific gesture,            the position information, and the direction information; and    -   a server including        -   a server communication unit configured to receive, from a            plurality of clients, position information indicating            respective positions,        -   the control unit, and        -   a server control unit configured to, when the gesture            information is received via the server communication unit,            identify a client pointed out by the user, in accordance            with the position information corresponding to a client that            has transmitted the gesture information, and the direction            information that have been acquired via the server            communication unit, and performs control such that an            impression represented by the gesture information is            notified to a user corresponding to the client.            (6)

The communication system according to (5), in which the server controlunit holds a table in which gesture information and an impression areassociated, and identifies an impression represented by the gestureinformation in accordance with the table.

(7)

The communication system according to (5) or (6), in which the servercontrol unit

-   -   manages a position of a client corresponding to a user        registered in a specific messaging service, and a destination of        the user,    -   identifies the managed client pointed out by the user, in        accordance with the position information corresponding to a        client that has transmitted the gesture information, and the        direction information that have been acquired via the server        communication unit, and    -   performs control such that an impression represented by the        gesture information is notified to a destination of a user        corresponding to the client.        (8)

The communication system according to any one of (5) to (7), in whichthe server control unit updates an evaluation of the user in accordancewith the gesture information.

(9)

The communication system according to any one of (5) to (7), in whichthe server control unit performs control such that a messagecorresponding to the gesture information is transmitted to the user.

(10)

A server including:

-   -   a communication unit configured to receive, from a plurality of        clients, position information indicating respective positions;        and    -   a control unit configured to when gesture information indicating        that a user corresponding to a specific client is performing a        specific gesture, and direction information of a gesture are        received via the communication unit,        -   identifies a client pointed out by the user, in accordance            with the position information corresponding to a client that            has transmitted the gesture information, and the direction            information that have been acquired via the communication            unit, and        -   performs control such that an impression represented by the            gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to            the client.            (11)

The server according to (10), in which the control unit holds a table inwhich gesture information and an impression are associated, andidentifies an impression represented by the gesture information inaccordance with the table.

(12)

The server according to (10) or (11), in which the control unit

-   -   manages a position of a client corresponding to a user        registered in a specific messaging service, and a destination of        the user,    -   identifies the managed client pointed out by the user, in        accordance with the position information corresponding to a        client that has transmitted the gesture information, and the        direction information that have been acquired via the        communication unit, and    -   performs control such that an impression represented by the        gesture information is notified to a destination of a user        corresponding to the client.        (13)

The server according to any one of (10) to (12), in which the controlunit updates an evaluation of the user in accordance with the gestureinformation.

(14)

The server according to any one of (10) to (13), in which the controlunit performs control such that a message corresponding to the gestureinformation is transmitted to the user.

(15)

A storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to functionas:

-   -   a recognition unit configured to recognize whether a user is        performing a specific gesture; and    -   a control unit configured to        -   identify a client serving as a communication destination,            when the specific gesture is recognized,        -   identify an impression represented by the recognized gesture            information, and        -   perform control such that the impression represented by the            gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to            the client.            (16)

A communication control method including:

-   -   by a processor,    -   receiving, from a plurality of clients, position information        indicating respective positions via a communication unit;    -   when gesture information indicating that a user corresponding to        a specific client is performing a specific gesture, and        direction information of a gesture are received via the        communication unit;    -   identifying a client pointed out by the user, in accordance with        the position information corresponding to a client that has        transmitted the gesture information, and the direction        information that have been acquired via the communication unit;        and    -   performing control such that an impression represented by the        gesture information is notified to a user corresponding to the        client.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 user terminal-   100 control unit-   110 communication unit-   120 position information acquisition unit-   130 camera-   140 microphone-   150 manipulation input unit-   160 storage unit-   170 display unit-   180 speaker-   2 wearable terminal-   200 control unit-   210 communication unit-   220 sensor-   230 manipulation input unit-   240 storage unit-   250 display unit-   3 server-   300 control unit-   310 communication unit-   320 gesture information storage unit-   330 evaluation DB

1. A communication system comprising: a recognition unit configured torecognize whether a user is performing a specific gesture; and a controlunit configured to identify a client serving as a communicationdestination, when the specific gesture is recognized, identify animpression represented by recognized gesture information, and performcontrol such that the impression represented by the gesture informationis notified to a user corresponding to the client.
 2. The communicationsystem according to claim 1, further comprising a quasi-electrostaticfield communication unit, wherein, when the specific gesture isrecognized, the control unit identifies whether or not there is a clientserving as a communication destination capable of performingquasi-electrostatic field communication on a periphery, and performscontrol such that the impression represented by the gesture informationis transmitted to a user corresponding to the identified client via thequasi-electrostatic field communication unit.
 3. The communicationsystem according to claim 1, comprising a communication unit configuredto communicate with a server configured to manage a message transmittedand received between users, wherein the control unit performs controlsuch that the impression represented by the gesture information istransmitted to the user corresponding to the client, via thecommunication unit and the server.
 4. The communication system accordingto claim 1, further comprising a sound input unit, wherein the controlunit is capable of changing the impression represented by the gestureinformation to a message obtained by converting a sound input by thesound input unit.
 5. The communication system according to claim 1,comprising: a client including the recognition unit configured torecognize whether a user is performing a specific gesture, a clientcontrol unit configured to generate, when the specific gesture isrecognized, position information indicating a position of the client,and direction information indicating a direction pointed out by theuser, and a client communication unit configured to transmit, to aserver, gesture information indicating the specific gesture, theposition information, and the direction information; and a serverincluding a server communication unit configured to receive, from aplurality of clients, position information indicating respectivepositions, the control unit, and a server control unit configured to,when the gesture information is received via the server communicationunit, identify a client pointed out by the user, in accordance with theposition information corresponding to a client that has transmitted thegesture information, and the direction information that have beenacquired via the server communication unit, and performs control suchthat an impression represented by the gesture information is notified toa user corresponding to the client.
 6. The communication systemaccording to claim 5, wherein the server control unit holds a table inwhich gesture information and an impression are associated, andidentifies an impression represented by the gesture information inaccordance with the table.
 7. The communication system according toclaim 5, wherein the server control unit manages a position of a clientcorresponding to a user registered in a specific messaging service, anda destination of the user, identifies the managed client pointed out bythe user, in accordance with the position information corresponding to aclient that has transmitted the gesture information, and the directioninformation that have been acquired via the server communication unit,and performs control such that an impression represented by the gestureinformation is notified to a destination of a user corresponding to theclient.
 8. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein theserver control unit updates an evaluation of the user in accordance withthe gesture information.
 9. The communication system according to claim5, wherein the server control unit performs control such that a messagecorresponding to the gesture information is transmitted to the user. 10.A server comprising: a communication unit configured to receive, from aplurality of clients, position information indicating respectivepositions; and a control unit configured to when gesture informationindicating that a user corresponding to a specific client is performinga specific gesture, and direction information of a gesture are receivedvia the communication unit, identifies a client pointed out by the user,in accordance with the position information corresponding to a clientthat has transmitted the gesture information, and the directioninformation that have been acquired via the communication unit, andperforms control such that an impression represented by the gestureinformation is notified to a user corresponding to the client.
 11. Theserver according to claim 10, wherein the control unit holds a table inwhich gesture information and an impression are associated, andidentifies an impression represented by the gesture information inaccordance with the table.
 12. The server according to claim 10, whereinthe control unit manages a position of a client corresponding to a userregistered in a specific messaging service, and a destination of theuser, identifies the managed client pointed out by the user, inaccordance with the position information corresponding to a client thathas transmitted the gesture information, and the direction informationthat have been acquired via the communication unit, and performs controlsuch that an impression represented by the gesture information isnotified to a destination of a user corresponding to the client.
 13. Theserver according to claim 10, wherein the control unit updates anevaluation of the user in accordance with the gesture information. 14.The server according to claim 10, wherein the control unit performscontrol such that a message corresponding to the gesture information istransmitted to the user.
 15. A storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer to function as: a recognition unit configured torecognize whether a user is performing a specific gesture; and a controlunit configured to identify a client serving as a communicationdestination, when the specific gesture is recognized, identify animpression represented by the recognized gesture information, andperform control such that the impression represented by the gestureinformation is notified to a user corresponding to the client.
 16. Acommunication control method comprising: by a processor, receiving, froma plurality of clients, position information indicating respectivepositions via a communication unit; when gesture information indicatingthat a user corresponding to a specific client is performing a specificgesture, and direction information of a gesture are received via thecommunication unit; identifying a client pointed out by the user, inaccordance with the position information corresponding to a client thathas transmitted the gesture information, and the direction informationthat have been acquired via the communication unit; and performingcontrol such that an impression represented by the gesture informationis notified to a user corresponding to the client.